IT exports growth likely to be 7-9% in 2018-19: Nasscom

India’s IT exports are expected to grow at 7-9 per cent to be at $135-$137 billion in 2018-19, the industry outlook by the National Association of Software & Services Companies (Nasscom) said on Tuesday.

The IT exports during the current financial year are projected to be $126 billion, a growth of 7-8 per cent over previous year.

The domestic revenues, excluding hardware, is expected to grow by 10-12 per cent to be at $28-29 billion in the next financial year against $26 billion likely in FY2018.

During 2018-19, the industry is expected to add 100,000 new jobs, the same numbers added during the current year.

Nasscom announced the key trends for the current year and the outlook for the next year on the sidelines of the special edition of Nasscom India Leadership Forum in conjunction with the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT).

Nasscom president R. Chandrasekhar told reporters that the positive outlook is based on global economic growth and growth trends of digital spending.

“The year 2017-18 began on a muted note, but driven by a better growth in the second half of the year is expected to clock revenues of $167 billion, representing a growth of 7.8 per cent for export revenues and 10 per cent in domestic revenues. E-commerce sector is expected to grow by 17 per cent in GMV terms,” he said.

Nasscom expects that the future of the industry will lie in ‘Digital at Scale’ as global digital spending is growing at 20 per cent annually. India’s digital revenues grew at 30 per cent in FY 2018, demonstrating the base for a solid foundation in digital capabilities built by the sector.

“It’s a great milestone for the software and services industry to cross $150 billion – tripling in size in less than a decade. The growth of the B2B startup sector also represents a unique opportunity for India to build innovative solutions for India and the world. However what lies ahead is even more exciting. From small digital pilots, to POCs with product players, we are witnessing industrialisation of digital as the wave ahead,” said Raman Roy, Chairman, Nasscom.